In a statement to GMB, Westside said the customer should have been told the item was real fur but it was a mistake by the shop assistant.

A spokesperson for Animal rights group Humane Society International said: "Consumers mistakenly use a cheap price tag as reassurance that the fur is fake.

"But the grim reality of the fur trade is that life is literally so cheap for animals on fur farms in countries like China and elsewhere, that often real fur can be produced more cheaply than manufacturing faux fur."

How to spot real fur

- Look at the tips of the hairs. If they taper to a fine point (like a cat's whisker), it's most likely animal fur.

- If you burn a couple of hairs (not in store, but you could take a small sample outside) and it smells like human hair, it's real fur. Fake fur is made from plastics, so will smell like chemicals when burnt. Fake fur will also melt like plastic.

- Part the fur at the base, if there's a leathery substance then it's real fur, if it's fake there should be a fabric or mesh base.

The spokesperson continued: "A huge volume of fur trim is imported into the UK from China, where HSI's investigations on fur farms has revealed animals enduring miserable lives and agonising deaths.

"With such poor labelling, it's very likely that many people wearing these items are entirely unaware of the grotesque suffering their fur represents."

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